The Fascinating Story Behind the Plymouth "Paint Chip" Barracuda

Visitors to the 2016 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals were presented with a huge array of priceless dream cars few people can afford. After seeing rows of these cars, much of it seemed to blend together. But one car stopped visitors in their tracks: The "Paint Chip Cuda."

This 1970 Cuda has perhaps the strangest paint scheme ever put on a muscle car and, as you would hope, there is a great story behind it. Back in the day, Chrysler sold muscle cars under the "Rapid Transit System" banner. Yes, you could get a pedestrian Barracuda with a slant-6 and all of the other things your grandmother might buy, or you could step it up several notches and option your Cuda to frighten the neighbors. A Hemi? Sure, why not. Shaker hood? Of course. And what color would you like your Cuda to be? We have a whole spectrum to choose from . . . And that is where the Paint Chip Cuda came from. In its brochure for that year, Plymouth showed a 1970 Cuda with a set of stripes, showing each of the colors available. And while the picture of the Paint Chip Cuda was nothing more than an invention of the advertising folks, a young man named Tim Wellborn saw the picture and was fascinated by it.

The original ad that inspired the Paint Chip Barracuda

Plymouth

Fast forward a few years and Mr. Wellborn is an aficionado of all things Mopar, particularly from the era he likes most: 1969 – 1971. The era of the Hemi, and of the winged cars, and of the Rapid Transit System. Wellborn ran across the RT brochure at his museum one day and wondered about that Cuda. Was it real? Turns out it wasn't. But that was no reason to keep him from recreating it.

So, he got his hands on a 1970 Cuda and had it restored to recreate the Cuda in the advertising material. And from the pictures, that meant it was going to be one unique creation. The unreal Cuda had the paint treatments on its passenger side, along with zoomie headers and a wheelie bar. And yes, that is "a" wheelie bar. You see, the Paint Chip Cuda only had the treatment and the options on one side. There is one set of headers and one wheelie bar on the passenger side. On the driver's side, the car is green with no headers and no wheelie bar. The car is divided right down the middle.

The purists out there need not worry. Wellborn was careful to not let the Cuda be harmed in the process of its transformation. Everything done to the car to give it this appearance is reversible. The 25-color paint job was done on top of a wrap which protects the original paint. And the whole job was done so expertly that the folks at the Bomb Factory in New Orleans deserve a shout-out.

Steve Lehto

Wellborn has brought the car to a few shows and everywhere it goes, it stops people in their tracks. It may not be the loudest or the most valuable car at any show but it certainly is a show stopper.

Steve Lehto is a writer and attorney from Michigan. He specializes in Lemon Law and frequently writes about cars and the law. His most recent books include Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow, and Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird: Design, Development, Production and Competition. He also has a podcast where he talks about these things.

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